BULGARIA 06-10 NOVEMBER 2019

First Day

Official opening of the project activities.

Project activities start at ''Nikola Yonkov Vaptsarov'' Naval Academy Varna.

Workshop and discussion about exploring, saving at protecting water in the Black Sea region.

Welcoming partners according to the old Bulgarian tradition with bread and salt at school.

Introducing the educational process in Yordan Yovkov Primary School.

Exchange of information about environmental activities between teachers and students from partner schools.

The project activities continue at the Medical University '' Professor Doctor Paraskev Stoyanov'' Varna.

Workshop and discussion about the importance of water for life.

Doing experiments to detect water pollution In the Chemistry Department.

Second Day

Discussing the problem of increasing plastic waste in the ocean: facts, risks and measures taken by the European Union.

STEM activities about saving water as a natural resource in the Black Sea Region Basin Directorate Varna Laboratory.

The world is suffocated by plastic, so we are taking a step forward: we are cleaning and finding out what are the most common beach pollutants.

It`s time to be active.

Together with representatives of the Basin Directorate Varna we held a campaign to clean up a part of the Black Sea coast .

Third Day

In the third day, teachers and students are working together to learn how to protect the most valuable natural resource - water.

Visiting the Institute of Oceanology in Varna. The biologist at the institute told them about the diversity of organisms in the Black Sea.

A scientist chemist is telling them about the specifics characteristics of the Black Sea waters and how to control the ecological status of coastal waters up to 1 nautical mile, and the chemical status in coastal and territorial waters, by monitoring physical, chemical, biological and hydromorphological indicators.

The students are impressed by the submarine exploring the bottom of the Black Sea.

At the institute's laboratory, they get familiar with the micro world of the sea.

Students and teachers need to be aware of their role and to work together to limit pollution and restore water resources

Fourth Day

Going around the palace along the waterway. The project participants are observing two springs which water flows into stone troughs on terraces, descends into waterfalls and overflows into water mirrors.

Today, over 2000 plant species of 85 families and over 800 genera are grown in the Botanical Gardens and the Palace in Balchik.

The cactus collection includes more than 40 species, represented by over 600 specimens. The collection is the second largest in Europe in the open - after that of the Principality of Monaco, with some of it represented the oldest specimens of prickly plants, some of which are over 60 years old.

The students get familiar with watering of some rare and exotic trees like a rubber tree, candy tree, book tree, pencil tree, ancient ginkgo biloba, large magnolia and others.

They get acquainted with the order and the way of watering the plants in the greenhouse and outdoors in the gardens.

The discussion about the water supply of the palaces aroused interest. They realized the significance of water to protect the lives of people in palaces and fortresses .

The students are having fun in the ice rink of Kranevo.

Fifth Day

Students have the task to illustrate the current state of the sea bottom using appropriate materials. They outline signs, connections and relationships between organisms and the environment they inhabit.

Workshop and discussion of water problems nowadays. Let`s make an effort to use water resources properly .

The students are given a STEM task - to design a filter to purify contaminated water.

The first step in solving the problem was to discuss the problem and draw a model of the filter to purify the water.

The next steps were to design the filter according to the model they had chosen. The most interesting point was testing the filter and outlining measures to improve it.

Water games are a favourite activity for students. Through games they learn interesting facts about water. They learn to appreciate and preserve it using various methods they carry water and collect it. Its amount was an indicator of how they cope with the task.

Time to say goodbye, promises and looking forward to the next meeting.